Traveling on the SS Badger

The SS Badger
Aaron

On Thursday we went on the SS Badger. The SS Badger is a big bout and is 410 feet long and is big enough to fit a football field in it. The SS Badger is also a car fairy.

The Badger was built in 1952 and used to carry trains because Chicago would not let the trains go by. Then after the S.S. Badger was not running any more it was reconditioned and started running again.

When we went on the SS Badger most of us went to the arcade and gift shop right away. I went strait down to the arcade games and played the claw game and I won a lot of cool stuff. The SS Badger was a very fun field trip.

The S.S. Badger
Lucie

We went on a field trip to Manitowoc, but first we had to go on the S.S. Badger. The Badger was originally built in 1952. They almost closed it forever, but they decided to reconditioned it in 1992.

The S.S. Badger is a coal-burning steamship. Before it was reconditioned it was supposed to carry freight cars across the Lake. It could carry 28-30 cars at once. Now it is for entertainment and carrying people across. S.S. means steamship. It had 2 propellers and it was 410 feet long. That was as long as a football field.

I really liked the Badger trip and the submarine. My favorite part was the sub. It had a lot of levers and buttons. It also had a lot of small doors. She took us all the way down the sub. She also pushed some buttons so it would make sounds. I really liked the sub.

The Badger was really cool to. There was a museum, a movie theater, an arcade, a gift shop, and a lot of places to eat. There was also a game you could play called Badger Bingo. Chelsea won a lot and I didn't win any, but I still had a good time.

The Badger goes as fast as 18 miles an hour. The width is 59 feet 6 inches. It is 7,500 gross tons. There were 42 staterooms and 84 berths. There could be up to 60 crewmembers on a trip.

I really liked the Badger trip and the submarine. I think it was the best field trip I ever had. I wish we could go on it again.

S.S. Badger
Courtney

On June 6, 2002 we went to the S. S. Badger. The boat was high. We went to a museum to look a round and then we went in a submarine and only 80 men could live in it. Their was only 34 beds so then when you get out of bed the bed was never cold because the next person would get in bed.

When we got back on the boat we went to the gift shop and the movie theatre and the arcade room it was a blast.

The S.S Badger
Chelsea

I went on a very exciting steam ship. It is called the S.S Badger. I went on it for a field trip. That was the best field trip I ever had.

The S.S in the word S.S Badger means steam ship. It has two propellers. It only needs to have one but when it carried train cars it needed the power. The S.S Badger was redecorated when it got new owners. They were going to have the ship carry people now. It was built in 1953. It costs a lot of money to have the ship.

At first I was so nervous. Not about getting seasick but leaving the harbor. I was scared that I might fall or get sick. I was lucky because I didn't get scared. I actually liked leaving. After that I went and played Bingo. I was having a lot of luck. I was winning a lot. I had a lot of fun.

When we got to Manitowoc Wisconsin our class went to a museum. There was a real submarine. It was neat. It smelled weird inside but it was so cool. The submarine looked small outside but it was huge in the inside. I would hate to live in there if you worked for the army.

On the way back we did almost all the things that we did on the way. There were so much seagulls though so we looked at them. People were throwing food at them. The seagulls at them anywise. When I got back I was so tired. I went to bed when I got home.

SS Badger
Anna

Yesterday our class got to go on the Badger. It was awesome. They had lots of fun games to play.

One of the games we played there was Badger Bingo. Once I was really close to winning on blackout bingo but somebody else got it first. I had 1 left uncovered. My friend Chelsea won three times. There were lots of prizes to choose from. The prizes that she won were a bag, a shiny Badger pencil and a coffee mug for her mom and dad.

Two of the other games were bluffers and name that tune. In bluffers there were four crewmembers and this lady read them a word and the crew had to give you different definitions. Only one of the definitions was true. The people had to guess which one was true. I wasn’t very good at that game. The other games, name that tune, you had to guess what song the lady was playing. She started with songs in the 40s and moved into later decades. I knew a couple of the newer ones but not any of the old ones unless I had heard them on TV or something. That game was pretty fun even though I didn’t win. I’m glad they had all of those games because it was a 4 hour trip each way.

The Badger wasn’t always like this though. It used to be a car ferry. The Badger took freight trains across Lake Michigan before we had access to go through Chicago. After the rail road gained access to go through Chicago they didn’t need the Badger for the railroad and they didn’t have enough passengers to make a business out of that so the Badger went out of business.

Then this guy bought it and made it into a passenger ship and brought it out of bankruptcy. There were lots of people who wanted to go on the Badger and that made it what it is today.

The S.S. Badger
Mallory

On Thursday, June 6, we went on the S.S. Badger. We rode it from Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Then when we were docked at Manitowoc, we went to a museum there. Then at the museum we went on a submarine from World War 2. Our tour guide was actually from World War 2, and he was on the sub we were touring.

Christy Corporation originally built the S.S. Badger, in 1951-1953. The S.S. in the S.S. Badger’s name means steamship. It is the only coal burning steamship right now. When it was first running they carried freight trains. Now days the carry passengers and their cars, and big semi trucks. Also it is the biggest passenger ship at the moment. The Badger was reconstructed in 1992. When it was remodeled they also built a new car deck with it. So now more cars can fit.

On the boat there were so many things to do. There was a gift shop, an arcade, two resturants to eat at, and the dining rooms. In one dining room they played Badger Bingo, Name That Tune, and Whose Fibbing. I got a sweatshirt that has writing in the middle of it, and it says Lake Michigan at the top, then in the middle in big writing it says S.S. Badger, then at the bottom it says EST. 1952, Ludington, Manitowoc. Most of my friends got saliors hats that say S.S. Badger on them.

Well I had a wonderful time on the S.S. Badger. It was the best field trip ever. I hope to go on it another time.

The S.S Badger
Sarina

On Thursday June 6, 2002 we went on the Badger for a field trip at school. It was the BEST field trip ever. We all thought that the S.S Badger would sink or that it would turn and be scary. But when we all got on it, it was a blast.

The S.S at the beginning of the Badgers name means Steam Ship. The badger leaves Ludington, Michigan and it goes to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. It was built in 1951. When the Badger was first used as a car ferry, that carried just train cars and other big trucks. But After that it started to carry both cars and passengers.

When we were on the badger I video taped when we left Michigan and when we got to Wisconsin. On the Badger there were 2 restaurants and an arcade, Movie theater, museum, and a gift shop. My friends and I were always walking around on the badger we were mostly in the gift shop and out side on deck. But we also thought that some people spent too much time in the arcade. I was only in there once. And I put my money and the machine at my money so that’s why I didn’t like it. I put my money in and it was stuck in reverse. So I just left.

I also played bingo and guess that tune and fibbers. My mom won at bingo and she got a camera and she gave it to me. For the game fibbers we had to guess who was lying and who was telling the truth. For guess that tune you had to guess what song she was playing.

When we got to Manitowoc, Wisconsin we went to the museum. It had a whole bunch of boats inside of it and there were little people them. There were also these two little movie theaters. One had a red light and it was like a disco light. And another on there was a wall and we were hiding form the other people. There was also a tunnel that we could crawl through. And there were these telephones that my friends and I were talking through And we could actually hear each other.

There was also a submarine and it was kind of stinky but it was pretty neat. It was big and we all ran a bell and we got to go inside to see how it looked and our tour guide told us what all this stuff was. We all plugged our noses. When we got out we went bake to the badger.

Some stuff I got at the gift shop was a hat, 2 shirts, ring, bubbles, and a pen where if you squish it’s head it’s eye ball popped out and in.

My mom and my dad went on the badger too. They thought it was cool. It was there first time on the badger. My mom and dad said that we will go back this summer and we will stay a few nights on Wisconsin.

On the way back to Michigan there was millions of sea gulls they were every where. My fiend and I both had video cameras and we were interviewing people. We had a blast.

I can’t wait to go again this summer. The other two boats that were there was the Spartan and the Atkunis. They were very big. I think that the badger was smaller than the Spartan but bigger than the Atkunis.

I went in my car on the way home from Ludington and we video taped some moose that were in a cage. They were huge.

I liked the Badger a whole lot it was my best trip ever. And the good thing was even though it was my first time on a boat I didn’t get seasick.

S.S.Badger
Jake Garwood

On June 7 our fifth grade class went to the S.S.Badger. It is a big steamship that takes trains, trucks, cars, and people over Lake Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The S.S.Badger takes people to Manitowoc, Wisconsin from Ludington Michigan. They said it has taken many people to Wisconsin.

As soon as our class got on the Badger I dashed for the arcade. But I didn't stay long because I went to the gift shop for some candy. Also I looked around to see what else they had. They had joke toys, candy, postcards, and other things to entertain you on the Badger.

When we landed in Wisconsin we all got excited. When the speaker said for the Onekama group to go to their bus. So we did what they told us to do. When we got to the museum we had to split up into three groups of 18. My group was the second group to go on the submarine. So we went and looked through the periscope on the building. We say people working and a lot of buildings.

After a little while we finally got our turn on the submarine. It was kind of cramped. But there was enough room. We went through the torpedo room, which was my favorite room. We say a lot of controls and switches. He even showed us some bullet holes. Also on the submarine there were different kinds of guns attached to it. It was really cool.

When we got back on the Badger all of my friends went to the arcade. So I went for a walk around the Badger. But later I heard they were doing bingo in the lounge. So I played some bingo. I actually won a hat in bingo.

It was so much fun to go on the Badger. And it was cool to see Wisconsin. So maybe I will go back to see Wisconsin again in a few weeks or sometime in he future.

S.S. Badger
Stacey

June 6, 2002 we went on the badger. When we got to the badger we loaded on the bout and it did not start to move until 9:00. There was a gift shop, an arcade, movie theaters and little rooms. They had a lot of games like bingo. Name a toon and a coloring contest. There were not a lot of people then I thought there would be.

The town that we were in was Mantwa. We went to a museum. They had a submarine and we went in to it. It was small but they put a lot of men in there. While other groups were in the submarine we got to look at other things in the museum.

Then we went back to the badger. Most of us ate dinner. Some times we were so far out we could not see land. At the end we still were on the bout we just got in the bus so when the bout was ready to let us off we just drove right off. We got back to the school at 8:30. I thougt it was not going to be that big.

My favorite part was when we were docking in Wisconsin and we saw thousand and thousands of seagulls. They were right next to the boat and in the back. They were flying really close to the boat.

It was built in 1951. Along time a go they used the badger for haling rail carts. The boat has to big propellers in the back. This boat has a steam ship (that’s what S.S. stands for). It has 350 hours power. It is 410 feet long. Two-foot ball fields could fit in it. There are two stories below the deck. It travels Ludington to Wisconsin every day. In 1982 it was sold to a man in ludington.

Thanks Mrs. Eldridge, Mrs. Lyman and Mr. finan for letting us go on the badger and taking us to the museum in Wisconsin. It was the most fun day. You mad the day fun. Thank you!!!

The SS Badger!
Gabe D

Yesterday my class went to Ludington to get on the SS Badger! SS means steam ship in which the Badger was that carries cars and passengers across Lake Michigan! You see there is this route called the Lake Michigan Circle Tour that takes you all the way around Lake Michigan instead of doing that you can take the Badger and cut the time it takes to go around the lake that will make trips easier! I will tell you how my trip went!

Now for my trip. The first thing I did was to eat breakfast in the Upper Deck Café. It is one of two restaurants. The Upper Deck Café had cafeteria food and the Badger Galley has snacks! Afterwards I got souvenirs from the Badger Boutique, which had cool Badger stuff and other items! Then I played Badger bingo but I did not win but I won a game of bluffers in which 4 people were talking about something but 3 were lying so you had to guess who told the truth! So I won a Badger pencil! I also relaxed on the bow and ate at the Galley, watched TV in the TV lounge and played in the arcade! It was a great trip!

THE BADGER
Derek

The Badger was built in 1951-1953. The Badger carries cars and fright trucks and people. The pear Marquette 8 sunk because of safety issues. Then the pear Marquette 3 sunk in an ice field.

The ships were running 24 hours night and day. The captain said the car ferry should look very good. The Badger is very big. It was very fun I liked the arcade it had cool games.

When we got to Wisconsin we went to a museum with a submarine and we got to go in the submarine it smelt very badly the person that was leading us said it was diesel. Then she sounded the alarm she said it would be loud but it was not.

S.S Badger
Robyn

The badger was built in 1952 and the badger got shot down. But the S.S badger started up again in 1992 when they remodeled it. S.S badger stands for stem ship badger. The badger has a sister ship named Spartan. On the Badger they have 2 Cafeteria: one is fast food and the other is a nice restaurant.

My mom drove me up to the badger. When we got there we had to wait till we meet the bus. When we meet them and we all went on the boat. Courtney had to go to the bathroom so we went down stairs and we found the bathroom and all the fun plays. We played in the arcade, and gift shop, movie theater and a bingo. I bout a lot of staff and the gift shop.

When we got there we whet to a museum they had cool gift shop and I bot a nickels. We when in a submarine.

Badger
Ryan M.

The Spartan and the Badger are the last steam ship to cross Lake Michigan. The Badger runs on two propellers. The badger could fit a football filled in it. The SS stands for stem ship.

The most fun that I had was going in the submerging and the wuveam too. I also liked playing in the arcadia. I liked playing bingo on the boat too.

Then the most of the time I played in the arcadia. Then I went to see it dock to late the cars out I had lots of fun.

The S.S. Badger
Brenna

The S.S. Badger is 410 feet and 6 inches long. It is also 7 stories high. The boat weighs 7500 gross tons. The width is 59 feet and 6 inches. The Badger is the only passenger car ferry in the Great Lakes. It takes 4 hours to go 60 miles between Michigan and Wisconsin.

One of the things I did on the badger was look over the edge. Looking over the edge was fun because you could see the bottom of the boat hitting the water and making huge waves. When you look off the back you could see the trail that we took, you could see all the turns we made.

The Badger
Alexi

Yesterday we went on the Badger. We had to drive to Ludington to get to it. It was great.

On the way there, one of the things my friends and I did was play all the Badger games. We played bingo, but Chelsea was the only one that won. Then my friends and I played bluffers. Bluffers is when there are four employees that tell you what a word means. Only one of them told the truth, and you had to guess which one was telling the truth. Chelsea won that once. Then we played guess that song.

We also played games in the arcade and went into the movie theatre. We went in the Boatique, which was a little gift shop.

When we got to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, we went to a museum about submarines. We got a tour of the Cobia, a submarine that served in World War 2. They used sonar to get sounds and track down other submarines and ships. They also used Sonar to figure out the depth of the oceans or lakes. They used phones that didn’t use much electricity, and you have to hold down a button to talk. They had to sleep in very small beds. There were 39 men that had to sleep in 34 beds, so every time someone got out of bed someone else would go back in.

We went to the gift shop in the museum. I got two necklaces, a ring, and instant sealife capsules. Lucie, Chelsea, and I got matching rings.

On the way back we went out on the top deck a lot. We did some of the same stuff we did on the way back. I got a S.S. Badger hat in the Boatique. When we played bingo, Chelsea won again!

It was a really fun trip. I wish we could go again!

About the SS Badger
Donny

On Thursday the 5^th grade went on the SS Badger. We were all excited because we did all kinds of things and went to Wisconsin. Most of the 5^th grade knows about the history and what they have on the boat. I think I know quite a bit of what it is and what it was. This boat is taking us to a Museum of a World War two submarine, but that is not the point of why we took the Badger. The reason why we took the Badger was that we could see the Badger.

Some of the history of the boat is that they carried train cars to trade supplies. They didn’t make train track around Lake Michigan to trade supplies because Chicago would not let them through and it would be cheaper by boat so they made 14 boats and one was the SS Badger which was made in 1952. All the boat were considered sisters and one of the sisters sank because there was not a gate in the back and to much water came into the boat and sank it. The people who had the SS Badger also had a boat called Spartin that was the same except for the name so it did the same thing since 1952, but it was never remodeled and is in Ludington broken so it is just floating there next to another sister. I wondered if someone owns both SS Badger and SS Spartin know and plans to fix SS Spartan when they get the money from SS Badger. On the SS Badger it was remodeled by taking out the train tracks and some rooms. Where the rooms were they put an arcade, a museum, and a movie theater and where the train track where they took them out so they could fix cars there.

On the SS Badger trip we stayed on the boat for four hours and then we were in Wisconsin for two hours and went to the submarine and saw other water floats. Last we went home on the Badger for another four hours. Their are many things to do on the boat and you could never get bored on the boat because of how many things there is to do. The Badger is the only boat that people will use to go on out of the 14 cargo boats.

When we went to the Submarine we got a tore of it and it was very interesting. They had great technology back then and I learned that torpedoes are much bigger than I thought. In the city we went in they made 20 submarines but the submarine we went in was not made their, it was from Connecticut and Sunk 5 boats. In World War II they lost a lot of submarines. I heard that on the sub the toilet if flushed wrong would wash up the waste to the next person who used it.

What we know is on the boat is places to eat, arcades, movie theaters, museums, and more. I had a great time on the boat because the things like the arcade and movie theater, I think I got a good tour with my mom on the boat. Gabe and his mom might come with us around the boat. We are also aware that there is a gift shop, the teacher warned us not to buy that much. My sister said she bought about thirty dollars worth of normal things she could buy anywhere. When I get on I am go to enjoy it as much as I can.